Prisoners accused in 9/11 back in court

A sketch shows the hearing at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba for five prisoners accused of helping arrange 9/11.

A sketch shows the hearing at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba for...

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Five prisoners here accused of helping orchestrate 9/11 returned to court Monday as arguments resumed over preparations for a trial that remains distant.

It was the first time the five prisoners had been in court since February, and they sat calmly through a morning's worth of dense legalistic testimony, with none of the outbursts that characterized previous sessions.

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In the audience, behind panels of glass that allow the government to cut off sound in case classified information is inadvertently uttered, were two retired New York firefighters injured while responding to the attack on the World Trade Center, as well as relatives of other victims.

Several of the spectators, chosen by lottery to view the proceedings at the U.S. base in Cuba, said they were eager to see it move along.

“They are obviously guilty, I think they have already admitted it and the trial should happen as quickly as possible,” said Joe Torrillo, one of the two retired firefighters.

Mohammed has told the military that he was involved in a long list of terror plots.

The men haven't entered pleas, and defense lawyers say the men were tortured in CIA custody.